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Center Publication

Health Behaviors and Costs in Multi-generational Workforce—Fact Sheet

June 2009—The Center’s Fact Sheet, Health Behavior and Health Care Costs in the Multigenerational Workforce, brings together information from a number of studies, synthesizing the affects of workforce health concerns on overall health care costs and company productivity. Health risk factors prevalent in both younger and older workers include: heavy drinking, illicit drug use, obesity, and smoking.

“Health risk factors…double and triple the healthcare cost of the older worker,” making age less of a factor in health care costs than the presence of risk factors. These same health concerns can also decrease employee productivity at the workplace, further increasing the cost of such problems to the employer.